Fake News Comes to Campaign Finance

AUBURN, AL- Just months ago, Take Back Our Republic released an educational paper on the problems that come with politicians that increasingly look to use their position to enrich themselves.

Naturally, Take Back Our Republic would be interested in any news that shows a politician meeting that criteria.

That’s why we shook our heads at AL.com’s recent headline that read “Jeff Sessions used campaign account to fund national convention trip.” At a time when the new Attorney General is the subject of controversy, this misleading article attempts to, in a twisted way, tie Sessions’ use of campaign funds to the recent headlines about his meeting with the Russian ambassador.

To be clear, Take Back Our Republic is not wading into the more controversial matters though, as an organization that fights for reforms that lead citizens to be confident in their government, we hope the matter is soon resolved. What we do take issue with, however, is the use of campaign finance as a “fake news” headline to attempt to smear the Attorney General.

Take Back Our Republic firmly believes then-Senator Sessions was correct to use his campaign funds as the appropriate vehicle to pay for a trip to the Republican National Convention. Such use of funds, while not as utilitarian as, say, purchasing yard signs, is certainly appropriate- more so than using his government account. While we cannot speak to the other matters of the article, implications of misuse of campaign funds is simply poor journalism.

There are real issues involving campaign finance and self-enrichment issues. We hope that “fake news” does not invade serious discussions in this critical debate.